Conventional methods and apparatus are known to apply a cement mixture to an exposed matrix of intersecting walls of a honeycomb body. FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the interior area 901 of a quarter section of a conventional applicator (not shown) in which a cement mixture flows into the applicator along a pathway 903 from an inlet port 904 to an elongated outlet port 940. The inlet port 904 is typically located near the center of a middle section of the applicator. As a result, a non-uniform delivery of the cement mixture typically results where more cement mixture tends to accumulate in the middle section than the side sections of the applicator. The non-uniform delivery can be represented by line portion 905 indicating a relatively high cement mixture deposit rate at the middle section and line portion 907 and a relatively low cement mixture deposit rate at the side sections of the applicator 901. The non-uniform delivery can also be represented by the velocity profile 909 extending from the middle section to one side section.
FIG. 1A provides a graph illustrating example velocity profiles 909a, 909b of the cement exiting the outlet portion of the conventional applicator. The velocity profile 909a represents a cement flow rate of 15.57 cm3/second (0.95 inch3/second) while velocity profile 909b represents a cement flow rate of 20.48 cm3/second (1.25 inch3/second). The Y-axis represents the velocity, in inches/second, of the cement mixture exiting the elongated outlet port 940. The X-axis represents the distance, in inches, from the center of the middle section to the outer end of one side section. As shown, the total distance between the center of the middle section and the outer end of the illustrated side section is 25.4 cm (10 inches). As FIG. 1 represents a quarter section, it will be appreciated that the overall length “L” of the gap at the illustrated example nozzle exit is 50.8 cm (20 inches) from the outer end of the illustrated side section to the outer end of the other side section (not shown). It will therefore be appreciated that the velocity profiles from the center of the middle section to the outer end of the other side section can be represented by a mirror image of the graph illustrated in FIG. 1A.
Each velocity profile 909a, 909b demonstrates the non-uniform delivery of the cement mixture along the length of the applicator. The non-uniform delivery can require an increased cement mixture flow rate through the inlet port 904 to provide adequate cement mixture delivery at the side sections. Otherwise, undesirable application characteristics may result at the side sections of the applicator. However, increasing the cement mixture flow rate to address deficiencies at the side sections may provide excessive cement mixture delivery at the middle section of the applicator. Such excessive cement mixture delivery may result in undue waste of material. In further examples, the conventional nozzle associated with the applicator may result, for example, in undue waste of material and/or other undesirable application characteristics.